Lonely objects and obsolete affordances

Osler, Lucy, Roberts, Tom and Krueger, Joel 2026. Lonely objects and obsolete affordances. Seemann, Axel, Hughes, Emily, Roberts, Tom and Krueger, Joel, eds. An Interdisciplinary Investigation of Loneliness, Bloomsbury Solitude Studies, London: Bloomsbury Publishing, pp. 89-108. (10.5040/9781350493094.ch-5)

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Abstract

While loneliness is typically conceived of as a psychological state experienced by agents, people often describe objects and places as lonely. Through an analysis of examples ranging from Ray Bradbury's automated house to abandoned buildings to digital decay, we emphasise how objects can be perceived as reaching out into the world for interaction and engagement and these invitations being left unfulfilled, hanging in mid-air. We suggest that we can understand this as a perception of what we call obsolete affordances—where we experience objects and places as lonely when we experience them as offering up action possibilities that remain unrealized or unrealizable due to the absence of human uptake or material deterioration. This approach emphasises the relational character of affordances while highlighting how loneliness can be embodied in material things, not just people. In doing so, we foreground how objects themselves can appear estranged or cut off from us, even when they offer an abundance of interactive possibilities that have been rendered obsolete.

Item Type:	Book Section
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > English, Communication and Philosophy
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General)
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN:	9781350493018
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	6 August 2026
Last Modified:	06 Aug 2026 14:28
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/179186

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